{"id":228,"date":"2008-12-18T11:13:25","date_gmt":"2008-12-18T19:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carmenelectrode.com\/?p=228"},"modified":"2018-04-24T13:04:04","modified_gmt":"2018-04-24T20:04:04","slug":"jessi-combs-from-the-black-hills-to-the-baja-1000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.arc-zone.com\/carmenelectrode\/2008\/12\/18\/jessi-combs-from-the-black-hills-to-the-baja-1000\/","title":{"rendered":"Jessi Combs – From the Black Hills to the Baja 1000"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growing up in the Black Hills with a mechanical engineer for a father, it\u2019s no surprise that Jessi Combs became a metal fabricator.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI was surrounded by the Sturgis Rally, Cruise Night, and a lot of 4-wheeling\u2026. if I broke it I had to fix it, and if I wanted it I usually had to make it, and making it usually meant welding was involved,\u201d says Jessi.<\/p>\n

Jessi has been welding for as long as she can remember even though she wasn\u2019t always great at it. \u201cBut that\u2019s what school and practice is for,\u201d she says.\u00a0 And it wasn\u2019t just welding that interested her.<\/p>\n

WyoTech offers a degree in Custom Automotive Fabrication<\/a>, a natural fit for Jessi\u2019s interests and skills.\u00a0 \u201cTo weld is to join pieces together to the point of melting the surfaces together. As a metal fabricator, there is a lot more planning, shaping, fitting and building than simply welding it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

How Jessi Combs Got Her Start<\/h2>\n

Jessi\u2019s career path started like many young people\u2019s from working retail to waitressing and \u201cone lame desk job that lasted only six months.\u201d\u00a0 However, things changed by the time she graduated.\u00a0 \"JessiShe was hired as a Fabrication Specialist building a 1969 Mercury Cyclone as the WyoTech SEMA<\/a> Show car, and right after that she became the host of television show Xtreme 4×4<\/a>, the off-road, how-to show on Spike TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor over three years we built all kinds of off-road trucks, trailers, tow rigs, and even some street trucks for millions of viewers. Since then I have been doing side jobs fabricating for others in the middle of doing a slew of freelance TV gigs,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Jessi is also a spokesperson for the American Welding Society<\/a> and says that the average age of today\u2019s craftsmen is 58 years old– soon they will be retired.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs spokesperson it is my job to excite our youth about all the possibilities of becoming a welder. There is a high demand for welders and there is a lot of money to be made as a welder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many women are under the misconception that women who weld are not particularly feminine. Jessi seems to balance this very well.\u00a0 \u201cNo matter how dirty I get or how many guys I work with, I still love doing girlie things. And at the end of the day I know that I am still the beautiful, nurturing creature God created me to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Jessi there are many lucrative opportunities in the welding world for women and that women are created with patience and great attention to detail. These jobs bring a sense of courage and independence. \u201cNot all of them are dirty jobs either,\u201d she says. \u201cLook at the medical and jewelry fields or even art and furniture.\u00a0 If you\u2019re looking for a fun career, change of pace or something to challenge you a bit more there is a plethora of opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, in case you\u2019re wondering, Jessi is TIG-er.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a very calming process and when you\u2019re done its quite clean and actually beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read about our “Tips for Women in the Welding Industry” here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0 Our interview was delayed for a couple of days when Jessi went to the Baja 1000<\/a>, something she\u2019d wanted to do since she was young.\u00a0 She reports via email:\u00a0 “Pistol Pete and his trophy truck team let me tag along for the pre-run and the race. I got some seat time in the pre-run, but unfortunately we blew a head gasket at mile 8 and the trio was cut short.”
\nHopefully they’ll do better next time around!<\/p>\n

As a side note, if you’re not familiar with the Baja 1000, in 2006 my friend James Spring reported on this “toughest 24 hours in motor sports,” for public radio<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growing up in the Black Hills with a mechanical engineer for a father, it\u2019s no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-rosies","category-welding-education","entry","fw-tab-6 fw-tabr-4"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nJessi Combs, Black Hills to Baja 1000 - Carmen Electrode Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jessi\u2019s career path started like many others, from working retail, waitressing and \u201cone lame desk job that lasted only six months.\u201d However, things changed by the time she graduated. 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